


Confessions of the Besotted

by HK44



Series: Prompts: 2018 Edition [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Sweet, hunkshipweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 06:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15237684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HK44/pseuds/HK44
Summary: Hunk should’ve see it coming. He was made to notice patterns, had lived his whole life following them in every line of code, in every word people spoke, in all the repetitions of life.And if patterns meant anything, which, of course, they did, following the pattern, doing it to the ltter like everyone else, was not going to work out well for him(For HunkShipWeek 2018)





	Confessions of the Besotted

Lance looked at himself in the mirror. His face was a little pale, sick with the thought of  _ actually _ doing this. He tried to remain confident, vigilant, in the presence of his fear and distress but it just  _ wasn’t _ working. His anxiety had built the bomb and it was ticking down with every rampant beat of his heart, ready to explode and ruin everything before he could even get out to talk to Hunk.

He shook his head rapidly. Even if Hunk turned him down, the shy uncomfortable, “ _ Oh, _ I’m sorry Lance but-” that he’d heard Hunk give Sheldon  _ weeks _ ago, it wasn’t like that was the end of all of it. They had  _ years _ of thier friendship, starting from the day Lance decided having a pen pal would be the  _ coolest _ thing ever and stemming then on, unbreakable, to the present, the now, the immediate moment he was in.

The moment he shivered and shook over in trepidation of it all crashing down on him like a tidal wave of misery.

He hadn’t even noticed when he fell for Hunk in the first place. God, it’d been so  _ gradual _ . Easing up the ladder, so slow and so steady, and then one day he looked down and just plunged headfirst from the board.

Everything about him was so perfect from his eyes, a deep brown Lance could just get lost in, to his hands, thick and heavy but so  _ gentle _ , so  _ goddamn _ gentle it was  _ insane _ . From his hair, always soft and smooth no matter how he wore it, to his  _ laugh _ , guttural and  _ bursting _ . Genuine to the core, just like Hunk was.

And Lance was a scrawny meathead who shook his leg too much when he was bored and didn’t understand volume control.

He didn’t even know Hunk liked guys until he turned Sheldon down with an apologetic, “Oh, I’m sorry Sheldon but you’re just not my type of guy.”

Then, when Sheldon departed after a couple of assurances that it was okay, it was cool, Lance asked for a bit more on that and Hunk shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he’d said, dipping a french fry into his milkshake. “But whatever guy is my type, it’s definitely not Sheldon.”

Lance could’ve slapped himself. Obsesssing over Hunk for a literal year now and yet  _ no _ , he’d just gone and assumed Hunk would never be interested in him because he thought Hunk was straight. Friends for over fifteen years and he didn’t even recogize Hunk’s bi-ness as being  _ bi _ . He just figured, having come out way young, that Hunk was being supportive with every time he pointed out cute guys or mentioned he thought some celebrity was attractive.

Of course now it just seemed obvious. Hunk’s refusal to dismiss Keith just because Lance didn’t like him and the way he stammered in front of some teachers. Lance had just thought he had an  _ authority _ issue.

He didn’t think Hunk liked any of them!

If he had, he definitely  _ would not _ have let Keith come anywhere near their group and probably would’ve been braver and asked Hunk out immediately, instead of flitting from relationship to relationship like a dumbass, trying to figure out why none of them made him feel  _ right _ .

Hunk made him feel right.

Hunk was  _ perfect _ .

And Lance was the idiot who didn’t realize it for sixteen years and then sat around so long, dismissing the plausibility that Hunk would ever like him that  _ now _ , now when he  _ knew _ , when he had some likelihood, it caused his stomach to knot up, twist and tremble violently.

He’d spent so long giving himself reasons not to do this, so scared that Hunk was really  _ just _ straight and that he’d run off or things would grow shaky and weird between them, that now when he had the chance, those reasons kept popping up every moment he even considered confessing.

It was ridiculous honestly.

Lance could ask out anyone. He could handle rejection from anyone.

Just not Hunk.

Hunk, who was sweet and perfect and went along with every stupid idea that Lance had and would most certainly stare up at him, shocked and then embarassed, when Lance said what he had to say.

He washed his hands a second time then a third time, trying to ease out the shaky tremble in his hands with lavender soap and hot water. Finally, he dried them off on the towel hanging up and stepped out of the bathroom. He had to do this.

No matter how afraid he was.

Hunk was still sitting on the couch, Blue on his lap purring loud. He stroked his fingers through her thick fur and she keened up with every touch, her tail standing high.

Honestly,  _ everyone _ loved Hunk.

Hunk glanced up at him. “Hey, buddy,” he said, grinning wide. “Thought you drowned in the toilet there for a second.”

Lance laughed and relaxed next to him, nice and close. Like always, Hunk wrapped his arm around Lance’s shoulders. That a good sign, right? But then again Hunk was a touchy person. Like Lance.

Oh, hell this was gonna be  _ impossible _ .

“Nah,” Lance said. He spread his hands out over his knees and smiled low. “Just spaced for a sec.”

He reached out for Blue, passing his hand over her fur. She gave him a passing look, the traitor, before curling right up against Hunk’s stomach and falling asleep.

“Remember how finicky she was when you got her?” Hunk laughed. “Wouldn’t anyone pet her except you.”

“Yeah,” Lance said faintly.

She’d been a birthday present, giving shortly after he moved out a year before. His papa had been all scratched up when they presented him with her. She’d been such an angry little thing that the shelter just practically threw her at them, citing all she needed was a good home and a fresh start.

That turned out to be true but she was still dicey around other people, save for Lance.

And Hunk.

She  _ loved _ Hunk.

Honestly, he should’ve picked up on that right away. Him and Blue did have the same opinion on everything.

He reached over Hunk and scratched under her chin. She cracked an eye open and shifted a bit, getting comfortable. Her eye stayed trained on him, giving a clear signal.

Lance swallowed around his words, heavy in his mouth, on his tongue. He opened his mouth, cleared his throat. Hunk eyed him, concerned, and he smiled to relax him. Hunk could worry so easy.

He was going to do it. “Hey, Hunk?”

Hunk smiled at him. “Yeah?”

He could do this, he could do this, he could  _ do this _ .

“What do you think-”

He couldn’t do this.

“-about Mom Needs Mars?” he finished quickly, turning to Netflix.

Hunk snorted, softly. “Lance,  _ why _ are we friends if that’s a movie you think I’d watch?”

Lance shifted, uneasy now. “I liked it.”

“It was awful!” Hunk nudged him with his elbow, eyes laughing. “It was bomb for a reason and Disney  _ doesn’t _ bomb.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “It’s not like disney is that great,” he huffed.

“Says Mr. I-know-all-the-words-to-the-little-mermaid,” Hunk teased.

“That’s different!” Lance said hotly. Blue was still staring at him. Her eyes dragged slow to Hunk smiling face. Lance wilted. “That’s… different.”

Hunk’s smile slid off his face, eyes growing concerned. “Hey, hey, what’s up?” He looked nervously to the TV. “I mean, we can watch if you want. I-”

“No, no,” Lance said quick. He pressed his hand firm and comforting to Hunk’s chest. “It’s okay. Let’s just watch-” He flicked through a couple movies. “Rise of the Guardians?”

Hunk nodded slowly, still watching him nervously. Anxiety churned in Lance’s chest.

He had to do this.

He couldn’t keep pretending anymore.

And if Hunk didn’t like him back? Well, that didn’t mean anything. Dozens of people didn’t like him back and he still stayed their friend. Allura, Pidge, Carlton from tenth grade English. Hunk would just be another name in the list.

It was just…

It was just that Hunk meant more to him. But they had been friends through thick and thin. They’d argued, they’d fought, Hunk had  _ literally _ left him on read for a month because of one annoyingly stupid dispute, and they still came back to each other at the end of it all.

Hunk wouldn’t leave him for this.

Closing his eyes and listening to the opening words to the movie, he thought about it. Hunk was like sunshine. So warm and comforting and he drew Lance out of the dark. Hunk wasn’t cold, he wasn’t brash. He never made Lance afraid. Even when they fought and his fists were flying in angry gestures, in raging movements, Lance was never afraid.

So why was he afraid now?

He took a slow steadying breath and locked his hand around Hunk’s free one, glancing up to him. Hunk looked down at him, his lips parted in a breathy smile. Lance smiled back, rubbing his thumb over Hunk’s.

It would be okay, he thought. Hunk wasn’t cruel. He was warm. He was sunshine. He was amazing. He was strong. He was kind.

He was Hunk.

“I’m in love with you.”

 

Hunk settled down on the couch as Lance vanished to the bathroom. His apartment was the same as it was the last time Hunk had been inside months ago. It was just easier for them to meet up at Hunk’s place, closer to both their jobs. And Hunk didn’t like driving far after long shifts working on different pieces of tech. The sheer weight of all the focus he had to put into handling each piece, making sure things didn’t explode and running back and forth to Pidge and themlot up in the software department for testing on different areas, had him winded

But he had this week off so it was all good.

The picture of all them graduating was still hung right where Hunk had put it the first day that Lance moved in. Keith’s face was squinting up at the sky, the sun in his face. Allura had her arm locked with Pidge’s, the arm thrown out over Hunk’s shoulders. Lance had sprawled out “draw me like one your french girls” style in front of all of them, his degree on display in front of his chest. And Hunk? He’d just been smiling like crazy, his arm around Allura’s waist, excited as hell to be out, to be done, to be with his friends.

It was still amazed him that had only been a year and some months ago. Some days it felt like nothing had changed. He still got up at seven every morning so he could commute on time. He still met with Pidge every afternoon for lunch, both of them discussing all the tech they’d been playing with that week.

Lance and him still talked on the phone every night when they couldn’t meet up in person and Lance still showed up at his door without warning, holding a pie or cake or some dessert they’d pig out to. Keith was still awkward and small and complaining that T took too long to start working. They still worked out together at the gym, boxing buddies for life. Allura was still the headstrong leader of whatever group she got thrown into at her firm and she still sent them vindicated texts about whatever dumbass tried to show her up and failed.

Nothing changed.

Except…

Hunk dropped his head back against the top of the couch. He’d crushed on Keith for all of three weeks when they first met but other than that, he’d never really been interested in any of his friends and he was so grateful for that. Left and right, he saw people dating inside the group and then the group cracking apart, either because of the dating or because of the consequent break-up.

It’d seemed like Keith and Allura were headed for smooch city and then Allura and Pidge and then Pidge and Lance but nothing ever came of any of it. Keith roped off to Allura’s cousin Lotor after a drunken escapade where they bonded over being scrawny, trans and mixed race people with emotional issues. Allura was more focused on kicking ass at her firm and making partner before she turned thirty to care about dating. Pidge liked robots more than she liked people.

But Hunk should’ve see it coming.

Allura liked Keith and he turned her down. Pidge liked Allura and Allura turned her down. Lance liked Pidge and Pidge turned him down. And now.

Now Hunk liked Lance.

And if patterns meant anything, which they  _ did _ , Lance was going to turn him down.

The pattern, if it went on long enough, did have the funny way of working out to Lance eventually liking Keith only to be turned down, which Hunk, after screaming into pillow about being so  _ stupid _ , laughed himself sick to. Especially since Lance vehemently disliked Keith for the first two years of Keith’s coming into the group of ever-since-high-school friends and now begrudgingly accepted his presence.

But it left Hunk with the unfortunate luck of pining away for someone who was  _ not _ going to like him back. It was just that, without school distracting him all the time, Lance was so much more of a  _ presence _ in Hunk’s life.

Yeah, they’d been pen pals but they didn’t meet until summer camp when they were twelve. And then they were separated until they were fourteen and both got into the same boarding school. But that had been stressful as hell, Hunk had only managed to date one person the whole four years he was there and Shay turned out to be gay as hell at the end of it. She’d been like him, too stressed out of her mind with work to realize it until the summer after graduation. They parted amicably because, well, it’d never been much of a relationship anyway, and kept in touch.

Then university started up and Hunk got launched into his program at lightning speed. He spent every free hour doing homework or shopping some new splay of tech or working retail to make cash. And then, every damn summer, he worked himself dry waiting tables or lifeguarding.

So no. It wasn’t until he was out of school with reasonable responsibilities and the average amount of stress that he actually realized, hey, Lance was  _ attractive _ . And, oh, he liked him  _ way  _ more than he thought.

Which, great, cool, fantastic.

Except Lance was his oldest friend and Hunk wasn’t his type.

Lance asked Allura out their freshman year and he didn’t know her. And Pidge had been during that weird dry spell between fall break and exams where no one was getting any and people just hooked up to do something  _ other _ than cry about exams. And since then Lance had laughed so many times about how grateful he was that they said no because, shit, would that have been awkward.

And all the guys Lance had ever dated? Tall and fit with glowing skin and perfect teeth. Not fat with grease smudged all over their face and hands and chipped teeth from holding too many tools in their mouths.

It wasn’t like Hunk was obese or anything. He was just big. But Lance had never gone for big so it didn’t matter if he was strong and could lift the back end of a car straight of his head with little effort. He was still plushy.

And no one really seemed to want plushy except for Shay. And even then, Hunk still wasn’t what she was going for.

But it was cool. It was cool.

Lance had a type and that was fine. Everyone had a type. It was just that keeping his feelings bottled up inside of him, Hunk who never held anything back, let everyone know  _ exactly _ how he was feeing even when the situation wasn’t so keen on that, was killing him.

It just ate at him over and over and  _ over _ again. Every night when he hung up the phone and could hear Lance’s voice in his head. Every weekend when Lance showed up to hang out after or before Hunk’s half-day shift and all he could think was how much he wanted to kiss him. To be with him.

It was burning him.

He knew sooner or later he needed to confess.

He was just afraid.

Everyone Lance had turned down or broken up with didn’t stick around for long afterwards, either taking along someone who seemed like they would’ve been great for the group otherwise or just deteriorating the relationship with the other main four anyway.

And Hunk, he’d seen it fail in other people’s groups, he’d seen it fail tragically, heard people talk about the way they felt, all broken about being forced to choose sides or how they missed someone they hadn’t spoken to in years because they’d been so close, they’d been so close and just like that they’d left.

All because a relationship went sour.

He couldn’t imagine his life without Lance in it, could barely remember it what it’d been like before Lance wrote him that first letter. He couldn’t imagine being without Pidge, the only other person he love who fully understand all the logistics of the work he did without him needing to launch into a lengthy explanation about it. He couldn’t imagine being without Allura, who gave rapidfire pep talks and had the  _ funniest _ life stories. He couldn’t imagine being without Keith, quick and spry and always good for a real hand-to-hand fight that the others held back on.

He just couldn’t.

Sighing, he thought about cutting his losses and running back to his apartment, telling Lance that he couldn’t hang, he felt sick or something, just avoid him until he could get these stupid feelings in his chest to go away.

Blue did not agree with that train of thought, hopping onto the couch then to his lap, where she kneaded her paws against his thighs, purring loud. He snorted. Needy kitty cat, he thought before swiping a hand over her fur.

If possible she purred louder.

Behind him the bathroom door squeaked open, Lance’s footsteps filling the room. Hunk laughed, glancing back at him. “Hey, buddy,” he said, smiling light. “Thought you drowned in the toilet there for a second.”

Lance laughed, the sound all gorgeous just like him. “Nah,” he breathed, flopping onto the couch and immediately snuggling into Hunk’s side. Hunk wrapped his arm around Lance’s shoulders, quick, tugging him in close like he’d always done, which made it feel less like desperation to touch him. Lance sighed content and spread his hands, damp and shining in the light, over his knees, smiling up at Hunk. “Just spaced for a sec.”

He reached out and pet Blue. Blue, always enamoured with the thickness of Hunk’s thighs and the warmth he radiated, just gave him a look before curling into Hunk’s stomach.

Hunk laughed, rubbing his thumb over her jaw, feeling her purrs vibratate through her whole body. “Remember how finicky she was when you got her? Wouldn’t let anyone touch her except you.”

Hunk had been the last to meet her, having the unfortunate luck of being away at a convention for work the weekend of Lance’s birthday. All the others had whined about how Blue was, always crying when someone else got close to her, scratching anyone who tried to touch her who  _ wasn’t _ Lance. If Blue hadn’t rejected Pidge right in front of him, Hunk wouldn’t have even believed those stories.

She’d taken to him right away.

A testament to his and Lance’s friendship, he guessed.

“Yeah,” Lance sighed, reaching out to scratch her chin.

She cracked an eye open, and looked at him before leaning her head right into Lance’s hand. With his other hand, he hefted up the Wii remote and coughed like crazy. Hunk stared down at him, worried. Was he sick?

Finally, he stopped clearing his throat and just looked up at Hunk. “Hey, Hunk?”

Wary, Hunk replied, “Yeah?”

“What do you think about…” Lance faded away, his eyes darting from Hunk’s, before he finished with, “Mars Needs Moms?”

Snorting at the  _ thought _ of that movie, Hunk rolled his eyes. Seriously, Lance? ““Lance,  _ why _ are we friends if that’s a movie you think I’d watch?”

Lance frowned. “I  _ liked _ it.”

“It was awful!” Hunk laughed. He nudged Lance’s side with his elbow. “It was bomb for a reason and Disney  _ doesn’t _ bomb.”

Rolling his eyes but also  _ not _ looking at Hunk, Lance huffed out, “It’s not like Disney is that great.”

Hunk could’ve choked to death on the laughter that bridled up in his chest at  _ those _ words. “Says Mr. I-know-all-the-words-to-the-little-mermaid.”

“That’s different!” Lance said hotly. Then he dropped his head, just a slight bit, body growing tense. “That’s… different.”

Concerned, Hunk frowned. “Hey, hey, what’s up?” He glanced quick to the TV, where Lance was still hovering over the film. “I mean, we can watch if you want. I-”

“No, no,” Lance said, pressing a hand to Hunk’s chest to let him know it was nothing. “It’s okay. Let’s just watch-” He flicked through a couple movies before stopping on one. “-Rise of the Guardians?”

Cautious because Lance wasn’t one to suddenly shift in mood without some kind of warning, Hunk nodded, smiling reassuringly at him. Lance pressed play, settling the remote off to his side. Hunk’s hand was now a resting spot for Blue’s cheek. He brought his other arm down to pet down against her back.

She was watching him carefully.

Low under his breath, he sighed just as Lance took his head. He glanced over at him, his soft smiling face that had Hunk smiling back just as content, his heart beating double time. Lance swept his thumb over Hunk’s hand. The motion was soft and comforting.

Hunk released a shaky breath.

Yeah.

He had to tell him.

“I’m in love with you.”

 

They said the words at the same time, so in sync and in tune the words blended overtop of one another, at the same speed in the same tone. It was actually pretty hysterical.

And then reality set in.

Hunk swallowed thickly and looked at Lance carefully who was staring back at him. He cleared his throat, sure he’d misheard or something. Lance pushed back his hair, dropping his hand from Hunk’s grip. His face went red.

“What?”

At the same time.

Again.

Wow.

Hunk could  _ scream. _

He bit his lip for a second drawing back. “You’re in love with me?”

This time Lance didn’t chorus it, stopping himself when Hunk started. He looked from Hunk to the TV then nodded slowly. “Yeah,” he said timidly. He shook his head, sat up straighter and looked Hunk dead in the eyes. “Yes,” he said again, confident now. “I am. I’ve been since last year.” He smiled low. “You, uh, you love me? Like  _ love me _ -love me?”

Hunk laughed, ducking his head and taking Lance’s hand back in his own. “Yes, I do too. For about the same amount of time.”

“Wow,” Lance whispered. He placed his free hand over top of Hunk’s, pressing down on it like a sandwich, firm and steady. “This is-” He laughed and leaned over, giggling like crazy into Hunk’s shoulder.

Laughter bubbled inside Hunk’s chest before spilling out, rapid and loud. Blue  stood up straight and bounced from his lap, looking for somewhere quieter to spend the rest of her nap. Hunk pulled Lance onto his lap, grinning wide. Lance spread his hands over Hunk’s chest, smiling just as wide back.

“So,” he said slow, the sound drawing out. He smirked devilishly, hand dropping back to Hunk’s. “We’re dating now?”

Hunk squeezed his hand. “Lance, I think we started dating a long time ago.”

Lance laughed, leaning down to kiss the top of Hunk’s head before he slid off his lap, curling back into his side, nice and slow. Hunk swept his thumb over Lance’s knuckles just as Lance did the same to him. They shared a look, mirth and giddiness in their eyes, then doubled over into one another, laughing loud and deliriously.

Most importantly, they were giggling like idiots in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Third day! Whoop! Fourth day well behind because I slept all weekend but I'm sure it'll be ready for tomorrow as well~
> 
> [Tumblr](http://happyk44.tumblr.com) || [Other Links](https://linktr.ee/hk44_art)


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